STANFORD, Calif. – Led by its seniors, No. 7 Stanford defeated No. 13 USC, 25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 28-26, Saturday, at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (13-11, 6-6 MPSF) hit .339 as a team, racking up 60 kills, 49 digs, 12.5 blocks and five aces. USC (12-14, 3-9 MSF) was held to a .152 hitting, and finished with 49 kills, 45 digs, 8.0 blocks and four aces.
Outside hitter Will Rottman registered a match-high 17 kills on .341 hitting to go with a season-high 11 digs for his first double-double of the season. He also tallied five blocks, two aces and three assists.
Setter Nathan Lietzke controlled the offense with 53 assists, and had seven digs, two kills and seven blocks, including two solo. Libero Luke Turner tallied eight digs and was solid on serve receive with zero errors on 32 total attempts.
Middle blocker Ethan Hill hit .800 with 12 kills on 15 errorless swings, five blocks and two digs. Outside hitter Kevin Lamp also recorded his first double-double of the season, posting 13 kills and matching his career-high with 12 digs.
Middle blocker Nathaniel Gates added eight kills on .667 hitting and four blocks. Senior Chris Kelly came off the bench as a serving sub in three of the four sets, helping the Cardinal seal the first set and pull away in the second.
Middle blocker Adam Chang started his third straight match, finishing with two kills and a block. Opposite Theo Snoey finished with four kills, five digs, two aces and a block. Sophomore Moses Wagner replaced Snoey in the fourth and totaled two kills and a dig.
USC had three players with double-digit kills, led by Noah Roberts' 13. Middle blocker Kyle Paulson had 10 kills on a .562 attack percentage and four blocks, while opposite Jack Deuchar chipped in with 10 kills, five digs and two aces.
Stanford has secured the No. 4 seed for the MPSF Championship, being held next week at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The Cardinal will face No. 5 seed Pepperdine on Wednesday at 8 p.m. on FloVolleyball.